Bad Doctors
I have come across some very bad doctors recently. I really saddens me. For real. Being a doctor is a public trust. It is a unique calling that demands a lot of the person who has chosen the profession. It is an extraordinarily stressful job at times. It demands a level of performance on a daily basis that is high and a persistence to keep up with the latest advances to help your patients.
So many doctors work hard to be their best. A few bad apples come through the gate and we need to know who they are and how they go bad.
Here are a few observations:
When a doctor goes bad it can be in the following general categories:
There isn't a fine line between whether a test or procedure is indicated or not. It is not always so black and white. Within each clinical problem are a range of solutions; in essence, a corridor, where some reasonable doctors will treat one way and others will treat differently.
Just because a doctor owns his own testing facility or surgicenter doesn't mean he is guilty of doing something just for money. I recall a Chris Rock punch line; "A man is only as faithful as his options". Does this also apply to doctors?
Can it be said "A doctor who owns his own testing or treatment facility is only as honest as his option or ability to get that test or procedure performed?" It is an interesting question.
While many people believe it may be human nature to give in to temptation, I would say this is not the case. Priests don't encourage you to sin to increase the traffic in the confessional booth. A good Pharmacist doesn't recommend a skin cream because it is more expensive.
Good doctors don't offer treatments or surgery unless they feel it is in your best interests. Only businessmen do that, not professionals. That is the difference between a profession and a business. A professional is someone that protects the integrity of the very nature of the profession over self-interest.
Businessmen answer first to the financial bottom line and then the interests of the industry they serve.
Not all doctors are good, though. A colleague of mine in the Midwest saw a patient recently that was seen by another surgeon who told her she need an arthroscopy to washout her knee for knee pain. She had a normal x-ray. There was no MRI done.
He saw her in the office and after less than 5 minutes told her she needed surgery. After examining her, my colleague felt she may have had either a cartilage tear or mild knee cap arthritis. After an MRI, it turned out to be the knee cap arthritis where the treatment was a short course of physical therapy and a home exercise program.
This concerned him so he did a little investigative reporting on this surgeon. It turns out that on any given week, this surgeon performs over 20 arthroscopies a week. Considering in this relatively small city the next busiest surgeon did 7-8 a week, this raised an eyebrow.
It turns out, that after a bit more digging it appeared that a majority of these cases were work-related injuries and were referred to that surgeon by a single law practice in the area that specializes in settlements for work-related injuries.
My friend actually went back to the case that he prescribed physical therapy on and it turns out that this was a work-related injury also. He asked me what he should do.
I actually was at a bit of a loss on this one. There is a corridor of appropriate treatment for knee pain but this stunk like an old piece of cheese in the back of the refrigerator. It would be very difficult to prove there was grossly inappropriate behavior by this doctor, though.
To help my friend I asked him a corollary question. "Why don't you call this lawyer to see if you can get cases like this so you can make more money?"
His response: "Ira, what? Are you crazy?"
"We already know that I am but answer my question anyway."
"I could never do that because the reason to treat a patient a certain way is based on my belief that it will make the patient better and not make the legal case better or put more money in my pocket."
"I knew why I liked you. So what you are saying that essentially you are a good ethical person and this other doctor is coming from a bad place, a place of low ethics."
"I guess so."
"So you have my answer," I said. "Continue to be you and set the example for others for proper behavior. You can't change the other doctor. He is a bad egg."
My point here is that bad doctors are not bad because of temptation or someone luring them into a situation. It is because they are bad people.
A good person would not believe that taking a knife to another person in a dark alley is a good thing. Only a bad person would do that. A good person would believe that reaching out a hand to a person who has fallen in a dark alley is a good thing. A good doctor would not take a knife to another person in a well-lit operating room if he did not believe he was reaching out with his hand to help the person. Any other intent is unacceptable. It is bad people that make bad doctors.
Most people are good. Most doctors are good. Find the good guys.
Dr. K
Related Topics: Surgery Lite: Understanding Endoscopic Surgery, Knee Replacement: Making the Decision
Technorati Tags: medical ethics
So many doctors work hard to be their best. A few bad apples come through the gate and we need to know who they are and how they go bad.
Here are a few observations:
When a doctor goes bad it can be in the following general categories:
- Due to personal greed he performs tests, surgery, or other care with the sole intent to make more money.
- Substance abuse on the job
- Sexual harassment of a patient
- Fraudulent billing
There isn't a fine line between whether a test or procedure is indicated or not. It is not always so black and white. Within each clinical problem are a range of solutions; in essence, a corridor, where some reasonable doctors will treat one way and others will treat differently.
Just because a doctor owns his own testing facility or surgicenter doesn't mean he is guilty of doing something just for money. I recall a Chris Rock punch line; "A man is only as faithful as his options". Does this also apply to doctors?
Can it be said "A doctor who owns his own testing or treatment facility is only as honest as his option or ability to get that test or procedure performed?" It is an interesting question.
While many people believe it may be human nature to give in to temptation, I would say this is not the case. Priests don't encourage you to sin to increase the traffic in the confessional booth. A good Pharmacist doesn't recommend a skin cream because it is more expensive.
Good doctors don't offer treatments or surgery unless they feel it is in your best interests. Only businessmen do that, not professionals. That is the difference between a profession and a business. A professional is someone that protects the integrity of the very nature of the profession over self-interest.
Businessmen answer first to the financial bottom line and then the interests of the industry they serve.
Not all doctors are good, though. A colleague of mine in the Midwest saw a patient recently that was seen by another surgeon who told her she need an arthroscopy to washout her knee for knee pain. She had a normal x-ray. There was no MRI done.
He saw her in the office and after less than 5 minutes told her she needed surgery. After examining her, my colleague felt she may have had either a cartilage tear or mild knee cap arthritis. After an MRI, it turned out to be the knee cap arthritis where the treatment was a short course of physical therapy and a home exercise program.
This concerned him so he did a little investigative reporting on this surgeon. It turns out that on any given week, this surgeon performs over 20 arthroscopies a week. Considering in this relatively small city the next busiest surgeon did 7-8 a week, this raised an eyebrow.
It turns out, that after a bit more digging it appeared that a majority of these cases were work-related injuries and were referred to that surgeon by a single law practice in the area that specializes in settlements for work-related injuries.
My friend actually went back to the case that he prescribed physical therapy on and it turns out that this was a work-related injury also. He asked me what he should do.
I actually was at a bit of a loss on this one. There is a corridor of appropriate treatment for knee pain but this stunk like an old piece of cheese in the back of the refrigerator. It would be very difficult to prove there was grossly inappropriate behavior by this doctor, though.
To help my friend I asked him a corollary question. "Why don't you call this lawyer to see if you can get cases like this so you can make more money?"
His response: "Ira, what? Are you crazy?"
"We already know that I am but answer my question anyway."
"I could never do that because the reason to treat a patient a certain way is based on my belief that it will make the patient better and not make the legal case better or put more money in my pocket."
"I knew why I liked you. So what you are saying that essentially you are a good ethical person and this other doctor is coming from a bad place, a place of low ethics."
"I guess so."
"So you have my answer," I said. "Continue to be you and set the example for others for proper behavior. You can't change the other doctor. He is a bad egg."
My point here is that bad doctors are not bad because of temptation or someone luring them into a situation. It is because they are bad people.
A good person would not believe that taking a knife to another person in a dark alley is a good thing. Only a bad person would do that. A good person would believe that reaching out a hand to a person who has fallen in a dark alley is a good thing. A good doctor would not take a knife to another person in a well-lit operating room if he did not believe he was reaching out with his hand to help the person. Any other intent is unacceptable. It is bad people that make bad doctors.
Most people are good. Most doctors are good. Find the good guys.
Dr. K
Related Topics: Surgery Lite: Understanding Endoscopic Surgery, Knee Replacement: Making the Decision
Technorati Tags: medical ethics
30 Comments:
Good artical, but I take offense to your definition of the word "profession". According to Merriam-Webster a profession is:
a : a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation b : a principal calling, vocation, or employment c : the whole body of persons engaged in a calling
Using the middle, commonly used definition, business people are engaged in a profession. So are computer programmers, bus drivers, butchers, security guards, etc.
And contrary to your statement, business people do not always answer to the bottom line first. In addition, most physicians in private practice ARE business people. A medical practice is a business. It has employees, revenues, expenses, and, yes, profits. Medical practices have billing offices, will dun customers for missing payments, and have sales targets (based on # of patients seen in a day).
Most business people do not sell a customer a service they do not need. They are professionals and realize the best way to a repeat customer and a reference is to sell the appropriate product based on the customer's need. It is a well known business statistic that it is alot easier and cheaper to keep an existing customer than win a new one.
I suggest you rethink this passage of you article, and rethink the notion that only medical professionals care about what is in their customer's best interest (yes, patients ARE customers).
Good doctors don't offer treatments or surgery unless they feel it is in your best interests. Only businessmen do that, not professionals. That is the difference between a profession and a business. A professional is someone that protects the integrity of the very nature of the profession over self-interest.
Businessmen answer first to the financial bottom line and then the interests of the industry they serve.
As a patient who recently a breast excisional biopsy, I did my homework including using Google Scholar to read about this kind of surgery and breast cancer screening programs in general.
I discovered that failure to diagnose breast cancer in a timely manner is one of the most litigious areas of medicine. Radiologists are some of the most sued doctors, period.
I have to wonder how much of my surgery was recommended to me due to the doctor wanting to avoid a malpractice lawsuit. The surgery in the end was not necessary and I'm a lot more careful and a lot less trusting of doctors now.
I feel that I must question some of my doctors' motives because even when those doctors weren't unethical, I don't think that they acted in my best interest but put their own interests ahead of me, their patient.
this is an excellent article. I am having a very hard time finding a "Good docotr" in the area that I now live in. I'm very sick with diabetes, fibromyagia, hypertension and the list goes on. I've had surgery recently to see if my arteries were blocked and through all my tears and begging... the doctor would not give me anything else to deaden the pain. I felt the knife go into my groin and into my artery. Naturally, I jumped because the pain was so intense. The doctor said,"oh, you weren't supposed to feel that". They also wouldn't listen to me when I said my blood sugar can not go below 170md. So they keep it lower and I was in and out of consious.
I found a great doctor, kind of far away, but worth the trip. Now 6+ weeks post-op pkr and getting ready for the other side. One regret though, my surgeon came to see me in the cover of darkness, yanked out my knee drain and abandoned me to the care of his assistant while he went off to teach in California. Can you believe that? Wish I had time to thank him for a relatively good experience or wring his neck for the frankenstein scar my sons call a "zipper." I will be making my arrangements soon for the other knee, so I will have matching "zippers."
Dr K you are a breath of fresh air. I have a chronic illness that has required ongoing medical attention for the past 19 yrs. And the only reason I am alive today is because of the wonderful, PROFESSIONAL physicians that were involved in my plan of care and still are to this day. I make a point to thank them for their efforts, regardless of how awful some procedures can be. And when they receive that little 'pat on the back', it solidifies the bond I have with them. Too many people ignore the fact that physicians & other practitioners are human beings too, & need positive feedback just like everyone else. We live in a society where too many people jump the gun & persue frivolous lawsuits that do more harm than good in the long run, and I fear will someday doom the healthcare industry.
I am looking for a doctor to have a breast reduction done and liposuction on my stomach and hips. How do I go about finding a good physician in my area? I have having these things done after a major weightloss. Thank you for your help. Carol.
Ira,
excellent article - and I share your views. Two points; 1)I'm happy to report to you that the majority of doctors I've gone to have been smart, ethical and good diagnosticians. I've never felt that increasing their income has been the determining factor in providing treatment. 2) the same is true of many lawyers. As a careful, ethical lawyer, I am both appalled and saddened by the generally negative perception of lawyers, because the majority of us take pride in our work and are respectful of the trust our clients place in us.
Liz
OK I agree there are some REALLY bad Doctors out there. Now the question is how can you find a good one. I just relocated from another state and I have crohns disease, I hear so many horror stories about local hospitals and Dr.s eg. UC Davis and Sutter. Can anyone offer any suggestions
I agree with your artical, my doctors are not working for me. I am 18 years old and I have bad back pain starting when I was 15. The pain continues to get worse yet the doctors that I have seen aren’t taking me seriously due to my young age. What should I do about that? How can I get my doctor to understand that the “prescribed” 3 Advil, 3 times a day isn’t dulling the pain. Thank you.
Great article; I myself have had a string of bad luck with a couple of doctors that only seem to be in it for the money. For three years my doctor tried to tell me that I had IBS and when the pain just keep getting worse I finally went to the emergency room where, of course, they called him and he told them that it was just IBS and to give me a pain shot and send me home. Well needless to say a couple days later my husband took me back to the hospital with even more pain and vomiting and when they called my doctor again he said the same thing, after a while I started to feel like it was all in my head and when it got so bad that I couldn't stand up straight with out falling to the floor I went back to the hospital and asked them not to contact my doctor, just find me a good one. Not only was the the smartest thing I could have done for myself that night but it also got the hospitals attention that this was more than just IBS. Sure enough after surgery they came to me to tell me it was my gallbladder all along as I was telling them but not only was it infected and swelling twice its normal size, I had alot of adhesions attached to the gallblader that were pulling on it every time I stood up. By the grace of one good emergency room doctor I have been pain free for 3 months now. Now I need a good doctor that actually listens to their paitents.
3 years ago I suffered a severe concussion from a fall. ER doc said I did not have a concussion. One year later, still having headaches daily my doc referred me to a Neurologist. He has treated me for the past 2 years with various meds with no success. Last visit he told me I was depressed that was what was causing my headaches. After doing research on my own I asked him to order an MRI of the cervical spine. He said it was not needed and ordered physical therapy. 3 days into therapy I was in so much pain I could hardly function. He then ordered the MRI. I could not get him to call with test results. Staff said he only gave results in person and offered an appointment in 2 weeks. I asked them to send results to my doc. He saw me in his office and told me I had compression of C6 C7 C8. C6 so flattened that it was depressing foramen on both sides. Is referring me to a Neurosurgeon ASAP. Still have not heard word one from Neurologist. Also, have an osteophyte? floating in there.
Suggestions?
Suggestions? Run as fast as you can to a different neurologist. I had an acute, multisystemic illness, with a traumatic brain injury one year ago, and because my MRI was "clean" my neurologist said it was "all in my head" and suggested I get counselling. I continued to deteriorate for another year before getting a second opinion. I now know what happened to me, and how to treat the flares. My old doc refused to treat me because he basically threw in the towel 9 months ago. I wish I would've went to see someone else 6 months ago. I also tried to get emergent care, and because of what was in my medical records, I was put on a psych hold and then discharged without treatment 2 days later. It is unfortunate that people are allowed to be abused by medical staff and absolutely nothing happens to them. Bad doctors? There are horrible, abusive, negligent doctors out there. And, the sad thing is, they are above the law, and will always stick together to cover their a** and blame the patient for any and all problems with treatment or case management. BTW, I actually have 2 very good doctors.
Aren't all doctors "bad"? I know that is an inflammatory remark but is it not true that doctors rarely question what they are taught in medical school?
Think about "all babies should sleep on their tummies" mantra that have prevailed for generations and have caused so many SIDS cases.
Now, think about HRT and Alzheimer's. More and more the link is coming out that HRT causes more risks than benefits, but how many doctors still "automatically" prescribe HRT to their women patients?
http://health.msn.com/centers/menopause/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100073348
My mom took HRT for about a month, stopped because of malaise, but developed Alz within a year. I know, I know, could be lots of other reasons.
No, doctors are NOT all bad. But, it's time they start using some common sense instead of just parotting the standard lines they are fed at med school.
Come on, the rest of the world knew babies sleeping on their tummies would cause suffocation (and it is common sense), but no one questioned this lore taught by one "expert" way back and religiously followed by all doctors.
Why is Alz increasing so fast? HRT for women, perhaps. But for men? Um, perhaps there is something doctors routinely prescribe for elderly men, too, and there just might be a connection in one ingredient in both medecines?
Sad, but too many doctors are in it just for the "business" -- how many still visit elderly patients at home?
I like this article, because it shows me that My family is not the only one encountering 'Bad' Doctors...but what can the common patient do about it?
My girlfriend has had severe upper abdominal pain for over three weeks now. She's seen 9 different doctors from many different fields; OB-GYN, General Surgeon, Gastro-doc, family doc...she's had CT scans, X-rays, Ultrasounds, pelvic exams, urinalysis, blood work, endoscope...she keeps getting bounced from doctor to doctor, with the only piece of advice being, "follow up with your family doctor" or "well, I REALLY doubt it's this...but let's have you do this really expensive test for the hell of it just rule it out". She had her gallbladder taken out a few years back, and all her pain seems to be right around the inscision scars, so her OB-GYN, the only doctor who seems to be trying to help, suggested it might be adhesions and that she should see the surgeon who did the procedure. She did, and told him about her other doc's thoughts, which he totally ignored and told her it was either "something VERY serious, or all just psychological" and that she should see her family doc. Then, after talking to another ER doc, who also said it could be adhesions, she called the surgeon back to tell him, in tears, and he told her she was crazy because adhesions NEVER cause pain!!! So here we are...three weeks of doctor visits, tests, and hundreds in copays and we know nothing, and no one is willing to do anything other than treat the pain with drugs.
And then there's my Dad...in the hospital because he woke up Sunday with pain in his hip so bad that he can't walk. They've got him on Morphine and Delaudid(which is only dulling the pain, not taking it away completely), and some doctor who has NEVER seen him, walks into his room yesterday, and tells him to stand up. My Dad says he can't, that's why he's here, and the doctor, without looking at his chart, tells my Dad that they're going to take him off the IV and send him home with Vicodin today...without taking note that in my Dad's chart is says he can't take Vicodin or ANY codeine derivative. He's still in pain, even with the Morphine, and they haven't completed all the tests that were ordered yet. When my Mom incquired about how they could justify sending him home with Vicodin, which he can't take, the nurse said, "how do YOU know he can't take vicodin?"...They've only been married 30 years!! And when she brings this up to him, he sits her down and says, "Well, maybe he just THINKS he can't take Vicodin."...WTF?!?! So after more arguing, the nurse says he'll note in my Dad's chart that he can't take Vicodin...but it's already there, he just never bothered to look.
If this is the quality of the health 'professionals' we're turning out in this country, then we're all in for a lifetime of pain and suffereing.
I like what the DOC wrote and its true.But he can compare this so call doctors to car sale`s men
JA.MA
Im sorry but ER docs and most private practices DO NOT CARE ABOUT THIER PATIENTS! They treat things symptomatically and thats it. If they find nothing wrong YOU the patient, are the crazy one. Im really mad at how money can make doctors so much more modivated. I am not saying EVERY doctor is like that. In fact i have met some nice ones. But after tests and not finding anything and knowing that this patient is still having SEVERE UPPER ABDOMINAL PAIN. Wouldnt you even as a real person be curious to know what it was that was effecting this patient like that?
NOPE! why? because they arent paid to care! SO they dont!
About 7 months ago I fell while ice skateing, rather like some silly cartoon, and landed on my head. A gash requiring multiple staples was not nearly as troubling as the vertigo and confusion. What bothers me the most is that I was sent home in the middle of the night, hardly knowing my name, in enormous pain. I slept for days straight unable to dress, wash or care for myself. How is it that a patient is sent home after sustaining that tramatic of an injury? Not even an overnight observation? I thank God for my family that kept a watchful eye on me, but not everyone is so fortunate.
I was in a car wreck in late February , my head hit the steering wheel and then the airbag came out to hit me again. I was knocked unconcious and was taken by ambulance to the ER. I had sustained traumatic facial injuries that required my nose to be rebuilt,(it was shattered with pieces of it in my throat), broken ribs, my left eye was so damaged I thought I was going to lose it, a broken wrist, fractured thumb, and throwing up blood. A mere 4 hours after I got to the hospital, they sent me home. My husband was a mess, I could barely breathe, I got violently ill from narcotic pain meds and was miserable. They sent me home b/c they said I didn't have anything "seriously" wrong with me.
I have worked for doctors and been the patient, I would rather work for one, than go to one. Not all are bad, but they act like they are having to take time out of their day to see you---isn't that what we are paying them for?
My 51 year old sister had a total abdominal hysterectomy 15 days ago. They sent her home from the hospital with a prescription for some pain medication. She took the medicine as needed and according to the directions. This morning I called her doctors answering service for her while she was napping and left a message for the doctor. I let them know that she had run out of the medication but thought she could get by with something a little less strong since her pain level is lower. 4 hours later, the physician who was on call sent us to the hospital emergency room.
The emergency room doctor said that the pain she was having was perfectly normal so soon after such an extensive surgical procedure and gave her a prescription. He added that he didn't understand why the physician on call refused to call something in for her and apologized for our 3 hour wait. I shutter to think what that emergency room visit bill is going to be.
You would think that a physician would have an obligation to his patients after surgery.
I started having severe chest pain and was taken by ambulance to the local ER. I was in the ER for almost 12 hours while they ran many tests on me. All the while they were telling me my EKG was normal. While waiting on more tests the ER physician that I saw when I got there told me that I was having a panic attack. I have never had one before and was having a good day at work. There was an episode where the EKG became abnormal, but there wasn't any tape in the machine to record it. After shift change time the new ER doc gave me a cocktail of some really bad tasting meds. I was told that I was having a case of gastric reflux. I don't have this and have never had a work up for it! Still more tests and I was then admitted to the hospital at 3 am because they wanted to run one more test, as my bloodwork showed I might have had a cardiac event. This test came back negative. I was released from the hospital at 7 am (16 hours and many, many $$ later) and told to follow up with my primary in a month! I had all of the records faxed to my cardiologist, who practices at another facility. He firmly believes I passed a small clot which didn't do any permanent damage, thank goodness.
All I received from the ER I was taken to is a a huge bill and two bogus diagnoses on my medical record. Now all of my doctors have added panic disorder and gastric reflux to my list. AAAUGH!! Guess what else?! Heart attack isn't on the list. Thank goodness at least my cardiologist knows the truth!
I know what you're talking about...
it happened to me too. The doctor I saw was Dr. Elizabeth Boham and she is the most useless doctor I have ever met. She shouldn’t be a doctor! She simply doesn’t know anything. She avoided answering my questions and treated me like a small child! She just kept saying ‘I will check that with the other doctor’. I paid 500 dollars for my initial appointment and was very disappointed. Also, the staff of the UltraWellness Center is very unprofessional. When I complained about Dr. Boham to the office manager she wasn’t even surprised – she just said ‘We’re not quite sure why Dr. Boham is working here either”. Stay away from her !!
If any of you readers live in Denver, Co, are a future or current patient of Kerry Higgins at Provident Senior care, I'd get my medical records and find another doctor. He's been in anger management, thrown exam room chairs and been verbally abusive to patients and staff. As a former patient, I know this first-hand. He's obviously off-balance...would you want him treating your medical concerns?? He needs to deal with his own.
I've been a registered nurse in two very diferent states (MI & OK)for almost twenty years. I hurt my back on a 300# CP patient in March 2006 and have my own WC horror stories. I am training as a hospital chaplain because I can never do hospital nursing again and I love patients.
Contrary to many beliefs, doctors are people. They have their own issues, and some are good and others not so good, and some are downright ugly. When you are forced to see a specific group by your insurance company, I really feel for you. You don't have the option of searching and this is essential to finding a good doctor. Your first impression of the individual is probably a very good indication of the kind of person he or she is-and this will affect his/her ability to practice medicine. Never leave yor child or elderly parent alone in a situation that makes you feel uncomfortable. Your instincts are a gift from God-don't get reassurance and convince yourself its ok. This goes for behavioral health as well.
Realize your doctor may have good intentions and a good heart and may simply make a mistake. I've seen many an honest doctor apologize to a patient and their family and not get sued. An ugly doctor will cover-up. Sad to say, the two states I've been in are like night and day. Nursing in Michigan was a horrific experience to me. I never got time to talk to my patients and listen to them. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to them-I was simply fire fighting (addressing acute life threatening situations because there was no time for prevention previously. Perhaps it is different now. I hope so because my family still lives there, but I know this state is not isolated in their health care concerns. If you think socialized medicine will help, you are so very wrong. Then you absolutely have no choices for your care.
Search for a good man or woman who is a doctor. Trust them. Get second opinions-they won't mind. Forgive them if they make mistakes but understand that you are in control of who your doctor is and when you get a second, third (or in my case-5th opinion). If you aren't in control and you feel uncomfortable-run. Find another situation until someone can give you hope. aybe they can't cure you- but they can care for your suffering.
God bless
Donna
In reference to the posting with the weird characters, the patient is correct. If you go to the right side of this screen and scroll upwards, to the area "Previous posts", then click on "Bad doctors". Scroll down and see patient David H's comment, which has these same strange characters, entered at 2:57 pm, then scroll down to Anonymous's comment at 9:11 am. It is not the patient who errored, but the MD web site that posted these comments.
My comments about weird characters being inserted in the patitents post was meant to be posted on the opposite spectrum web page "Doctors that care". Sorry about that!
Let’s be honest here, how many professional doctors are left in the United States? As a patient with a major illness I have yet to encounter a “professional” doctor; however, I have met many business men who happen to be MDs. I have read many doctor’s blogs about how they went to medical school and spent years in study and are repaid by society with low wages such as the 250,000 yearly income for a PCP or the 350,000 plus wages of a specialist. I also hear cries of how doctors must report to insurance companies and must be accountable for their actions. I most liked the comment I read in a physician’s blog last night when he reminisced about how in the old days they were questioned by anyone and were the social “cream of the crop”. I feel so sorry for them! My goodness! To be treated like an average person, like the smuck working construction in the mud, like the security guard – how humiliating for them! Maybe the next time they treat a patient they should think what it must feel like being viewed as walking co-pay and nothing more. Maybe if they really wanted to be filthy rich and not really help suffering people they should have chosen a different carrier – say a broker or politician. Leave the real doctors to do the sometimes selfless, sometimes poor paying/sometimes non-paying, humble and compassionate work of a professional healer. The reason years ago doctors were respected is due to their oath to help and never harm. Doctor’s years ago went out of their way to help patients, took partial or barter payments from the poor and treated everyone as valuable. Those days are dead! Yes, I know about the HC problems in the US. I know about red tape, greedy insurance companies ECT. However, they took no oath to help and never harm and the doctors who make 200,000 profit a year and complain about how bad their life is and how broke they are should not be doctors. The finger pointing will continue between greedy doctors and greedy insurance companies until the real issue is brought to light – greed!
i went to the doctors yesterday. in sigoney ia. t he doctor just checked my heart reat. and that was it. for the past two days i have been throwing up blood. and my body hurts. he said it may be do to stress. about last month the same doctor seen my boy friend and gave him med without doing test this meds made my boyfriend even more sick.
I had unprotected sex with a women with an unknown status and I became fatally sick then having severe neuropathy in my hands and feet then it became all over my body. I am on Medicare and secondary mediciad. I have gone to alteast 10 doctors who have only done lab work etc. Even though the std's became negative they had no answers. Referred to Neurologist who did brain scan and neck scan everything came back negative so he referred me to a rheumotologist doctor who did lab work on me and told me everything in negative then told me I need to go to hospital and have a team of doctors do tests on me at Jackson Memorial I told him I didnt have money for that and medicare has restrictions. I am so tired of doctors who base everything on a lab work. There doctors look at me because I am young why and on disability medicare they are aware medicare pays minimal and they give you minimal help. You pay more you get better treatment use medicare get very little treatment. I am also a victim of fraudelent billing.
You decide? the ethics vs greed here, As I was shot thru the brain .. in Viet Nam in 1968 and have had many infections in my brain that eventually left me with a third of my brain missing... here about a little more than two years ago I broke my glasses in that most critical area,they were chipped so I knew I would be in the need of glasses, just as a X-friend came along and kept insisting how great this laser dr. was and how my quality of life would improve if I had that laser surgery, so Iopted to be screened for same.. Well in as much as I was shot thru the brain with 3 metallic clamps inside my cranium that have been there since I was shot defending this your and my country and now after having this procedure: I have had to hire a nurse, leave my job that I loved! and am going to be forced to retire from Govt. Service. Now I am barely able to leave my house.. So I ask does this sound like a person that has been sold a bill of goods? or WHAT... as a matter of fact I almost think or even recall one of the partner's commenting I WOULD NOT be a good candiate but was convinced otherwise by the main Dr.: so I ask does this sound like he was acting in an ethical manner??
As I can recall I used to have to furnish the govt. w/ a 450 form that reflected any stocks I might own which would / may give the appearance of a conflict of Interest.. Guess some Drs. are just to GREEDY to explain the real truth about this lasik surgery.
sign a combat veteran that managed to survive the battle for Hue City. and find myself at almost every ones whatever..
My former orthopedic surgeon performed unnecessary surgery (surgeries on a simple sprained ankle and surgery on un-sprained ankle to just make it tight!). When the surgeries completely failed and I was effectively crippled, the surgeon stated (under oath) that I was over emotional and actually convinced him to perform the surgeries.
The surgeon also stated that he did not know *why* the surgeries failed and kept falling but he questioned whether I had an alcohol problem and knew I was taking medication for depression that may have made me dizzy.
Nice defense, huh?
I recently wrote the AAOS (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons) to request that a grievance be filed against this surgeon.
http://advocateyourself.blogspot.com/
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